It was a normal fall day and the wind blew the hair of a normal 26-year-old girl. She was walking into her doctor’s appointment, thinking it was just a routine check-up. She did not know that on that day, she would receive news that would forever change her life. 

It was November 30, 2019 when Kylie McElheny was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer. It was a six centimeter tumor on her artery. This was the most painful news my family could have ever received. Everyone was upset and thinking the worst, but Kylie knew she had to fight.

She started her battle right away. She went through two surgeries, five rounds of brachytherapy, and 27 rounds of radiation to start her battle. She had no clue how long her recovery would end up being. 

She then had another surgery that moved her ovaries over to avoid radiation. This surgery was done in hopes of Kylie being able to have children in the future.

On January 10, 2020 she was declared cancer-free.

My family was overjoyed and felt very grateful that Kylie would be okay. When I found out, I thanked God everyday for her health. Kylie fought so hard to be able to go on with her life, have a family, and forget she ever had cancer. She thought her battle was over, but it was not over at all. 

On September 9, 2020 she found out that her cancer had come back with a vengeance.

Kylie went to her physical and the doctor performed a biopsy on her just to be on the safe side. The cancer was back and it spread. The doctors wanted to perform an aggressive surgery where they would take out her ovaries, uterus, bladder, part of her colon and more.  Kylie chose not to have this surgery because it was extremely intense and would have prevented her any chance at a normal life.

In December, 2020 Kylie and her mom, Lorie McElheny, went to Mexico to try alternative treatments. There were two Gofundme’s for Kylie that raised more than $50,000 so she would be able to afford this. They went to Mexico from December 7 to January 5.

Kylie went through many alternative medicines during her stay, which was extremely hard on her. Unfortunately they did not work much due in part to damage she had from previous Western medicines. 

Upon their return in January, Kylie and Lorie bought many machines. One was a rife machine that radiated frequencies to heal your body and another was called, the genius machine which normalizes blood flow and more.  Kylie also had vitamin C intravenous (IV) therapy. They did everything they could to save her life.

Kylie kept having to go back to the hospital because she was losing so much blood and had a blood clot in her leg. It swelled up and she could not walk. One thing after another had led to pneumonia. 

She went for platelets and blood transfusions several times, but it did not help. Kylie had tried everything she could to be free of cancer, but unfortunately God brought her home way too early. 

At 4:21 a.m. on April 21, 2021, Kylie McElheny went to heaven. 

This is not the end of Kylie’s story. She was intelligent, funny, creative, compassionate, strong, and my cousin. She should be remembered as the kind of person she was, not just a person who had cancer. Kylie was the person I grew up with, someone I looked up to, and someone I love.

Before Kylie passed away, she said that she wants my family and I to raise awareness about this type of cancer because it is not talked about enough. That is what inspired me to share her story by writing this.

For Kylie.